Hopes that a Victorian-born woman was about to be pulled from the rubble of a Christchurch building have been dashed this afternoon, with rescuers revealing the woman they have been in contact with is not Ann Voss.

Ms Voss has been trapped under her desk in the four-level Pyne Gould building for 24 hours, and overnight spoke to numerous media outlets by mobile phone to detail the harrowing details of being buried alive before her battery died.

Rescuers this morning believed that had made contact with the Christchurch resident, after finding a woman trapped beneath a desk who said her name was Anne.

But police have told reporters at the scene today that the person trapped was another woman named Anne - not Ms Voss, a former Geelong resident.

Ms Voss earlier said she was convinced she would die in the darkness and called her children in Australia to say goodbye.

Her son Robert, 31, who lives in Middle Park, left Melbourne Airport this morning bound for Christchurch.

The news comes as Victoria prepares to send 100 police officers to quake-stricken Christchurch as part of a 300-strong Australian policing contingent.

The officers will be drawn from the Operational Response Unit and will help with general policing duties from Friday.

Victoria will also send a support unit from the Department of Sustainability and Environment.

Premier Ted Baillieu said there would be many tears in the days and months ahead for those affected.

A Victorian medical team and urban search and rescue team are on standby.

Speaking last night, Ms Voss said the experience was "terrifying, absolutely terrifying".

"A couple of hours ago I thought I’d had it. I thought that’s it, you know, goodbye Ann, but I managed to wiggle a bit out and breathe a bit because I couldn’t breathe, there was no air," she told 3 News in New Zealand.

"Now I’ve got a wee bit of air here. I’m a bit happier."

She left a farewell message on the phone of her son and spoke to her daughter, an experience she described as "horrible, absolutely horrible".

"My daughter was crying and I was crying because I really thought that was it, but you want to tell them you love them, don’t you?," she said.

"I have no idea what’s going on out there. I’m trying, I’m trying [to hold on]. I’ve had my moments. As I said a few hours ago I was ready to just - I thought ’Take me away’.

"I’m not going to give up. I’ve got to wait now, I’ve gone through all this, they’re going to come and get me."

Ms Voss said she was bleeding but was unsure whether she had been cut by glass or the tiles on the floor.

The Christchurch resident said she had been on the first floor of the building when the earthquake struck, and dived under her desk before the building’s upper levels "pancaked" on top.

"I went under the desk but the desk collapsed, the ceiling above fell on top," she said.

"There were other people around but I’m there on the other side. I was at reception sort of by myself. I have no idea what’s happened in the building, I can’t see a thing and I’m stuck under a desk. I can’t see. It’s dark."

She was calling out to a trapped colleague, Jim, and knocking on her desk so he knew she was alive, but had heard nothing from another female colleague who was near her at the time of the earthquake.

"I keep knocking and he [Jim] knocks back but I hope he hears me. I hope someone knows I’m here. I suppose they do," she said.

"I will, I will hold on. It’s just when you get another shake and you just sort of think ’Oh, what’s going to happen?’. No, no, I’ll be right, I’ll just hang on here. Thank you for ringing me."

Ms Gillard said consular officials were still trying to piece together details of the male Australian resident’s death.

"But it appears this person was a family man and our condolences go to his family who would be struggling with this news," Ms Gillard said.

The man was assisted by a passer-by in the last hours of his life, Ms Gillard said.

"Our thanks would go to that stranger and I think that’s an emblem of the kind of spirit that we see in Christchurch as people get together to help each other."

"We are still working through to confirm that Australians are safe," she said, adding the whereabouts of 417 had been confirmed.

"We are still seeking to confirm the status of 1094."

Ms Gillard asked Australians wanting to obtain details about family and friends to exercise patience during search and rescue operations.

Qantas and Air New Zealand have arranged additional flights from Christchurch when the city’s airport reopens to international traffic later on Wednesday.

"Our consular team will be assisting people to make arrangements to travel from Christchurch and return home," Ms Gillard said.

23 Feb
Christchurch's terrifying misery continues today as aftershocks continue to shake the city - sometimes as much as every few minutes - with victims still trapped and rescuers racing against time to find them.

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